Camera sensors capture light through the use of optics and convert photons into digital numbers. The captured image is usually in a raw Bayer format. The captured image is processed and is often stored in the memory of the camera or another device. The captured image is often stored using compression methods such as Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) or Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) algorithms. The captured raw image can also be processed directly to a display on the capturing device or another device in communication with the capturing device. Additionally, a “digital zoom” feature can also be used when images are captured and stored, or after the images are stored.
When raw images are captured to a device memory, a significant amount of memory space is required to store them in a raw format. An alternative to storing such a large file in the memory unit is processing the image “on the fly,” but this requires significant processing power on the part of the electronic device at issue. On the fly processing also reduces the overall processing flexibility for the image. For example, automatic white balancing (AWB) must be performed based upon the previous frame's statistical information during AWB processing. When the images are captured with a serial shooting mode (where the images are continuously captured or captured in a rapid series), the required buffer size for uncompressed raw images will rapidly become very large and/or the number of captured images will be highly restricted.